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HOTELS Interview: Taking sustainability to the next level

Conservation is nothing new for the 39-room Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California, but its F&B program in particular is taking that commitment to the next level. In addition to initiatives like a chef’s garden focused on dry-farmed items and joining Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which focuses on sustainable seafood, the hotel recently stumbled upon a unique way to reduce its water usage — a critical consideration in the drought-ravaged U.S. West.

John Cox, executive chef of the property’s Sierra Mar restaurant, installed an air compressor in his kitchen to help with the overnight cleaning of ovens. But when the only place he could find to store the compressor was under the dish station, an idea was born. Dishwashing staff uses air from the compressor — rather than water — to pre-clean plates before they go into a dish machine, and Cox says the practice saved 800 gallons of water daily in its first two months — a savings that could grow to 300,000 gallons annually. (Editor’s note: For details about Sierra Mar’s air-compressor dishwashing system, including videos, click here.)

HOTELS asked Cox about some of the benefits and challenges of Sierra Mar’s air-compressor system, the restaurant’s other green initiatives and where he hopes the industry goes next in terms of sustainability.

HOTELS: What challenges has this method of cleaning plates presented?

John Cox: It has kind of been a funny process. The first day I did it I had bowls of guacamole coming back from the employee meal. One of my dishwashers got this compressor. It was the first day he was using it, but he’s been washing dishes here for over 20 years, so he’s very set in his routine. He just cranked down on that handle into the bowl of guacamole, and he had an entire bowl of guacamole all over his face. They have to turn the bowl upside-down and push the air inside, and [whatever was in the bowl] just shoots down into this catch that we can use for composting. So it was a little bit of a messy learning curve, but it worked out.

Another challenge is that when you’re using a water stream, you’re used to seeing these very clean plates go into the dishwasher, but when you’re using the air stream there might be a little bit of greasy sauce or egg left on the plate. We use a high-temperature, economical, conservation-focused dish machine, and in our experience it has been able to get any of that residue off without issue. But I think depending on what your menu is, people will have different results.

By far the biggest challenge has been noise. The noise factor is the air hitting the plates, and that’s something I didn’t expect. We have an open kitchen; you can’t hear it in the dining room, but you can certainly hear it in the prep area. It’s something we put up with because we really believe in this water savings and we want to be as environmentally conscientious as possible, but if there was a way we could make it more quiet, that would be ideal.

H: Have there been any other surprises with this system?

JC: In places that have plenty of water, people have started using it because of their septic systems or grease traps. A couple restaurants in New York said before using the air they were having their septic systems pumped twice a week in these older buildings, and they were able to get it down significantly.

H: Sierra Mar follows a number of sustainable principles in terms of sourcing and in other areas, but which of these make you most proud?

JC: We just joined the Seafood Watch program. We’re in very close proximity to Monterey Bay Aquarium, and they have done a national initiative on what fish is sustainable. We just became a member of their approved Seafood Watch restaurants.

In the bigger picture, as a restaurant and also as a hotel we really take pride in being part of the Big Sur community. All the initiatives we take are to preserve the land around us, because we really do care about it, but it’s also making purchasing and staffing decisions that support the lifestyle that we want people to have here in Big Sur.

For instance, buying all of our goat-milk cheeses from a guy at the top of Palo Colorado Canyon enables him to keep 15 acres (6 hectares) of Big Sur land actively farmed and keep that agrarian landscape we love about Big Sur. There are not a lot of hotels in Big Sur, so what we do directly shapes the community.

H: Has that commitment to the local area deepened at all recently?

JC: As far as the culinary philosophy, within the last three years we’ve taken the approach that we want to tell the story of Big Sur. Now our dishes really focus on that deep connection with the Big Sur landscape.

For instance, we just harvested some wild yuccas from the South Coast just about 5 miles (8 kilometers) below Post Ranch, and we made this balsamic-like syrup using the heart of the yucca plant. It’s something I’ve never seen anywhere else. 

“In the bigger picture, as a restaurant and also as a hotel we really take pride in being part of the Big Sur community. All the initiatives we take are to preserve the land around us, because we really do care about it.” – John Cox (photo by Kodiak Greenwood)
“In the bigger picture, as a restaurant and also as a hotel we really take pride in being part of the Big Sur community. All the initiatives we take are to preserve the land around us, because we really do care about it.” – John Cox (photo by Kodiak Greenwood)

We have people coming from all around the world to stay at Post Ranch, and they’re completely familiar with the Michelin 3-star level of dining. I don’t think our goal is to be the best restaurant they’ve ever eaten at. We want it to be incredible and refined, but what we’re really trying to do is create something they can’t experience back home. We want it to be completely unique to our part of the world.

H: What is one major way you hope all restaurants might evolve to be greener in their operations?

JC: All of this — whether it’s saving water or enabling people in the community to practice agriculture — all of it takes time and money. You can always get something off of an 18-wheeler at a fraction of the cost of a locally produced item. You can always turn your head to conservation efforts and just do what’s readily available. As a big-picture statement, I think sometimes you have to make sacrifices on your bottom line to make the type of initiatives you want to see happen in your community.

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